Surprise Senate Amendment Allows Audits Of JobsOhio

As the Ohio House was going through multiple rounds of voting to pick a new speaker, the Senate passed a surprise amendment to expand the state auditor’s power to look into the workings of the privatized non-profit entity JobsOhio.

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The original bill creates a crowdfunding platform for entrepreneurs to seek investors from around the state. And the JobsOhio audit language that was tacked onto it barely got a reference on the Senate floor from Republican state Sen. Frank LaRose of Hudson.

“An amendment was added that pertains to the auditing of JobsOhio,” he said.

The amendment gives the state auditor more of a role in the scope and review of performance audits of JobsOhio by private firms. Auditor Dave Yost has long wanted more authority over those reviews, but JobsOhio has been exempted from public records law.

Republican Senate President Larry Obhof says his chamber is supportive of increased transparency for JobsOhio, which is objecting to the change. The House will now consider it.

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Democratic nominee for Ohio governor Richard Cordray visited a manufacturing site in Cleveland on Tuesday and talked about his small business plans.

Cordray met with business leaders for a closed-to-press session at Magnet, a manufacturing incubator that receives state and federal funding.

The former federal consumer protection chief then toured the facility on the eastern edge of downtown. Founders of some of Magnet’s startups showed off their products. Cordray handled lightweight “smart mulch,” inspected adaptive clothing for seniors and sampled Cleveland Whiskey.

Gov. John Kasich is sounding off about a report over the weekend saying that his job creation record for the last two years is only slightly better than that of his Democratic predecessor, Ted Strickland.